Airfix 1/48 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vc/Seafire IIIc

Superb kit from Airfix with numerous options enabling you to build either a Spitfire Mk.Vc or a Seafire Mk.IIIc.

Four sets of markings are included:

79 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force.
2 Squadron South African Air Force.
103 Maintenance Unit, Aboukir, North Africa.
Seafire of 887 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Indefatigable.

A naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire, called the Seafire, was specially adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. Although never conceived for the rough-and tumble of carrier-deck operations, the Spitfire was considered to be the best candidate available at the time and went on to serve with distinction. Modifications included an arrester hook, folding wings and other specialised equipment. Some features of the basic design were, whilst unproblematic for land operation, problematic for carrier-deck operations. One was poor visibility over the nose. Like the Spitfire, the Seafire had a relatively narrow undercarriage track, which meant that it was not ideally suited to deck operations. The addition of heavy carrier equipment also added to the weight of the machine and reduced low-speed stability, critical for such operations, and normally a forte of the Spitfire. Early marks of Seafire had relatively few modifications, however late marks of Seafire were heavily-adapted and highly potent machines. The Seafire II was able to outperform the A6M5 (Zero) at low altitudes when the two types were tested against each other during wartime mock combats. Contemporary Allied carrier fighters such as the F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair, however, were considerably more robust and practical for carrier operations. A performance advantage was regained when late-war Seafire marks equipped with the Griffon engines supplanted their Merlin-engined predecessors.

The name Seafire was arrived at by collapsing the longer name Sea Spitfire.